Matthew 2:2 - Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for
we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Matthew 18:3 - And Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, Except
ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew in The New Testament - A Brief Overview

Painting of St. Matthew with Angel by Rembrandt

Introduction to The
Gospel of Matthew

The Word Gospel. The first book of the English
Bible that most of us read from is the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew is the first of the four gospel writings, yet there is
only one gospel about Jesus Christ and there are four different
writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The word "Gospel"
means "good news", and the good news is about Jesus
Christ dying on the cross and then 3 days later conquering death
and rising from the dead, offering salvation to all mankind,
this is the Gospel.

Summary of the Book of Matthew

Brief Summary. Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the long
awaited Messiah King of he Jews as foretold by the ancient
Jewish prophets. He came to reveal how to enter the "Kingdom of
Heaven."

Purpose. It is very obvious that the Gospel of Matthew
was written for the purpose of revealing that the man Jesus of
Nazareth was actually the King of the Jews, the long awaited
Messiah, the sovereign Lord Jehovah who came from heaven to this
world revealing to mankind the "kingdom of heaven". The King of
the Jews, the Messiah Jesus fulfilled every prophecy that was
spoken about Him in the ancient Jewish Scriptures, in the Old
Testament. The prophecies that spoke of the "Kingdom" that the
Messiah would bring would be a spiritual Kingdom that would
never be destroyed.

Audience. When reading the book of Matthew it becomes
clear that the writer was speaking to a Jewish audience. One of
the obvious reasons is that the "Kingdom of Heaven" is mentioned
over 30 times and never the Kingdom of God. This is because the
Jews do not speak the name of God and this could be the very
reason that Matthew used this phrase. There are many times while
reading the book that an event happens and a prophecy is cited.
The event is mentioned as the direct fulfillment of a promise
made to the Jews by one of their Jewish prophets, and the
fulfillment of the prophecy was happening before their very
eyes. It is clear that the audience of people are the Jews, they
were awaiting their King, and Matthew records that the King had
come and they rejected their King.

Authorship. Early Christian writings and traditions
have attributed the authorship of the Gospel of Matthew to the
apostle Matthew. Many scholars question whether or not Matthew
was the true author of the first Gospel, but there is no way at
this current time to be absolutely positive based on historical
evidence. Most agree that Matthew was the author. The Bible
reveals that Matthew, or Levi, as he was sometimes called,
collected taxes for the Romans. One day Jesus passed by and
called Matthew to come and follow him, and Matthew did so. The
Bible also records that Matthew held a banquet at his house with
several of his tax collector friends and Jesus being invited to
the banquet was the guest of honor (Mark 2:14-15). The Bible
also provides a list of the 12 apostles and Matthew was named
among them.

Date. There is no way to determine with absolute
certainty the date that the book of Matthew was written. Most
scholars agree that the book of Matthew was written before the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., this is because Jesus spoke
of many events as though they had not happened yet. A large
number of scholars do not believe in the miracle of prophecy and
therefore insist that the Gospel of Matthew was written after
the fall of Jerusalem because of the accuracy of the predicted
events.

Language. There are many references among the books in
the history of the early church that state that the Gospel of
Matthew was originally written by Matthew in the biblical Hebrew
language, and he was writing to an audience of Jews
throughout the world who had become followers of Jesus.
Unfortunately there is no evidence whatsoever of a Hebrew or
Aramaic manuscript, so many scholars have agreed that the Gospel
of Matthew is not actually a translation from Hebrew into Greek,
but was actually written in Greek. The whole subject of the
Gospel of Matthew being written in Hebrew must remain
speculation rather than fact.

Outline of the Book of Matthew

The King Comes and His Kingdom is Rejected -
Matthew 1-12
The Rejection of the King's Teaching and Ministry -
Matthew 13-25
The King's Trial and Crucifixion - Matthew 26-27
The King's Victory and Resurrection - Matthew 28
The King's Commissioning of His Apostles -
Matthew 28

Matthew - Interesting
Notes

Matthew mentions four women in his genealogy which is not
typical for Jewish genealogical records: Tamar, Rahab,
Ruth, Bathsheeba who were all associated with some sort of
immorality. Tamar (incest), Rahab (harlotry), Ruth (a descendant
of Moab who committed incest) and Bathsheba (adultery). Christ's
greatness was in Himself not his genealogy.

There are many intimations for the word "King" in Matthew if one takes
the time to look. For example in chapter one there is a royal genealogy
mentioning king David at the start. Chapter two reveals the kingly gifts
of the Magi. Chapter three calls John the Baptist a "herald" which is a
cultural term that represents a herald for a king. Etc.

There are similarities with the number four. The four colors in the veil
of the Temple were purple, scarlet, white, and blue. The four faces of
the cherubim are the lion, ox, man, eagle. The four Gospel accounts are
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

The Name Jesus In Ancient Hebrew Text
"Yeshua" in First Century Hebrew Text. This is how the name "Jesus"
would have been written in ancient Hebrew documents. The four letters or
consonants from right to left are Yod, Shin, Vav, Ayin (Y, SH, OO, A).
Jesus is the Greek name for the Hebrew name Joshua or Y'shua which means
"The LORD or Yahweh is Salvation".

Many Thanks to The British Museum, The Louvre, The Oriental Institute, Dr. Amihai Mazar, Dr. Dan Bahat, Dr. Craig Johnson, Yaacov Kuc, Chuck Smith, Jim Darden, Ron Haaland, The Translators of the KJV, and many others including Jesus, the Word of God.